Cognitive Dysfunction In Parkinson's

Parkinson's disease (PD) is the second most common neurodegenerative illness (after Alzheimer's disease) affecting 1-2% of people over age 65.3 Although PD is traditionally characterized by its motor symptoms (e.g. tremor, stiffness, slowness), research demonstrates that cognitive dysfunction has a greater impact on patient suffering and caregiver burden despite being under-recognized. Cognitive dysfunction is a significant risk factor for psychosis, dementia, nursing home placement and affects 20- 40% of PD patients even at the time of initial diagnosis.4,5 In patients with PD surviving 20 years or longer, cognitive dysfunction is the leading cause of nursing home placement and three fourths of PD patients ultimately develop dementia.6 We know that neurons in the brain communicate with each other by firing at certain frequencies. A growing literature shows that high frequency (30-50 Hz) brain activity called gamma activity is particularly important for communication between distant brain areas and is critical to normal cognition.7 Prior studies also show that gamma activity is reduced in PD.8 However, we do not know why gamma activity is reduced in PD or the relationship between changes in gamma activity and cognitive dysfunction. We hypothesize that reductions in gamma activity are a key mechanism underlying cognitive dysfunction in PD and that interventions to increase gamma activity will improve cognition. To test this hypothesis we propose to use a novel combination of research methods including magnetoencephalography (MEG) and repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS). MEG measures magnetic activity over the scalp to determine brain activity. We will use MEG to determine whether reductions in gamma activity are related to cognitive dysfunction in PD. TMS uses a magnetic coil placed over the scalp to stimulate brain activity. While there is evidence that repetitive TMS (transcranial magnetic stimulation) increases gamma activity and may improve cognition, it has not been studied for this purpose in PD. We will apply repetitive TMS to PD patients to determine whether gamma activity and/or cognitive function may be improved non-invasively.